These days most social media users are quick on their feet when thinking up engaging attention-grabbing status updates. Whether on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other platform with a “less is more” policy, people are becoming more creative in communicating their thoughts and opinions. Yet when we think about it, how many perfectly good ideas have been left on walls and news feeds never to be further fleshed-out or explored? If you went back and checked you may find a few that with a little brainstorming, could be developed into content for your venture’s blog or website.

What are some ways to tell which posts may be most blog-worthy? Here are four:

1. Pick the posts you were most passionate about writing at the time.

Many people post on Facebook or Twitter in response to something newsworthy that’s happened or on topics relevant to business, politics, culture, or general society. One way to begin generating blog ideas is to review earlier status updates and try to tap back into the same thoughts or ideas you had when those posts were initially written. By re-connecting with the original source(s) of inspiration, you will be able to better articulate your perspective and effectively present it in more than just 140 characters.

2. Assess which of your updates got the greatest response (Likes, Comments, or RT’s) that day or week.

One of the best ways to pinpoint a potentially good blog idea is to review the number of people who engaged with the originating status update. 10 “likes” is cool, but five comments is even better because it shows that your Facebook or Twitter post was interesting enough for people to directly respond. If you are not publishing your articles yet, you’re likely not concerned with generating blog comments at this point. But if you are, comments on your social media posts can potentially be translated into comments on your blog, the ultimate goal for most bloggers.

3. Which updates can you find the most data/background information on to support your opinion?

Stating your perspective is one thing, but having relevant and compelling information on-hand to substantiate it will comprise the actual meat and potatoes of your blog post. Again, if you’re largely uninterested in other people reading your post and use blogging as a way to simply unload your thoughts, this may not be too big of an issue. However if you are trying to build an audience – and especially if you want your work to be published elsewhere – putting on your journalistic hat and conducting research is the best way to be considered a reliable source for readers to follow.

4. Which statuses elicited the most diverse, emotional, or controversial responses?

While this one is very similar to #2, it’s actually distinctively important. In addition to assessing the quantity of responses, you want to pay attention to the quality as well. If you asked a question or introduced a topic that attracted a wide array of opinions, those same opinions can be used as alternate perspectives for your article. Highlighting contrary points of view often makes for the most creative and interesting blogging material. Ask your friends if they’d be willing to have their responses quoted in an official post on the topic, and invite them to continue the conversation there.